Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have been linked to climate change.
As a response to increasing concerns about global greenhouse gas emissions, technologies that can recycle CO2 into high-value products have received growing interest.
Electrochemical reduction of COx (CO2, CO, or combinations thereof) combines just three inputs: COx, a source of protons, and electricity, and converts them into fuels and chemicals such as methanol, ethanol, carbon monoxide or acetic acid. However, it has not been possible to achieve industrial-scale production of such fuels and chemicals. One of the key barriers has been the lack of a suitable electrochemical reactor. The largest barrier to achieving an efficient reactor design with a high production rate is the poor transport of COx to the catalyst surface in the reactor due to the low solubility of COx in aqueous solutions and the inability to control the competing water reduction reaction that leads to hydrogen production.
This disclosure describes a new electrochemical reactor for reduction of COx, which overcomes this barrier. Gas-phase COx, as opposed to COx dissolved in water, is fed to the reactor to achieve better transport and high product production rates. The ion, conducting polymer surrounding the COx conversion catalyst minimizes the competing hydrogen formation reaction. The reactor has high energy efficiency, high current density, fast response time, and proven robustness, while also providing flexibility in the kinds of chemical products it can produce.